


Cowboy Problems

by W4nderingStar



Series: The Drift [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game), Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Jesse's POV, M/M, Mentions of Sexytimes, Nothing explicit, Overwatch as the successor to the PPDC, The world was saved, now for the aftermath
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:41:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25093273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/W4nderingStar/pseuds/W4nderingStar
Summary: The Legendary Jaeger Pilots Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes saved the world once again.Now Jesse McCree gets to deal with cleaning up after them and the fallout.
Relationships: Lena/Emily, McCree/Shimadas, Nothing official, Only hints that things, Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison
Series: The Drift [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1861744
Comments: 48
Kudos: 60





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place some weeks before the end of chapter 50 of "I'll Always Find You In The Drift." 
> 
> I usually like to make all my fics more or less stand alones, however, this one really isn't. So if you haven't read Drift, or read the last couple of chapters, this fic won't make too much sense in places. 
> 
> For any Drift lovers out there, I hope you enjoy seeing what happened "behind the scenes" of chapter 50, and maybe can't wait to see what direction Overwatch is heading in and what shenanigans our favorite cowboy and zippy Brit were up to. :)

Chapter 1

Oh god. He was dying. Consciousness returned like a sonofabitch crashing pots and pans together in his brain.

Jesse struggled to get all the pieces working together. His left arm whirred like a jet engine, making his head pound. 

“Aw, hell.”

On the one hand, he was glad he could still get drunk. On the other, he was pissed as hell he could still get drunk. One brain cell finally started talking with another, because his legs were listening to him again. Not that it did him much good. The rest of his brain was sitting in a thick soup sloshing around his skull and his body felt dense and hard to move. 

“What the hell time is it?” he muttered. 

Shit. Goddamn. What day was it? He forced himself to roll over and sit up. He swayed, his vision going black. Wait. No. He reached up and pulled something off his face. 

Bessie tumbled into his lap. His lap that was only covered by his good boxers. He grunted as he picked her up and put her back on his head. Halfway there, he realized his shirt had vanished. 

He must have drank enough to kill a horse. When he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, he was still wearing his boots. Maybe he’d drunk enough to kill a fish. The memories weren’t forthcoming on the who, what, where, when, or why. 

At least maybe he could figure out the where. He glanced around himself. He was in a huge room, with a ton of Overwatch paintings and photos on the walls. But not regular photos, the real nice kind with the high up types in fancy uniforms and medals. The room had plush carpet, something only the fancy rooms had. Sleeping on said plush carpet, was a passed out agent. Beyond him, was another, spilled stein of beer still clutched in her hand. 

Jesse rubbed his face. Sweet lord, someone had talked him into an afterparty? He must have been drunk as a skunk. Well, at least he had enough sense to pass out in the bed. 

Someone moaned behind him. The rich, low sound brought with it a flash of a memory. That moan had been in his ear. Jesse grimaced. Shit. He wasn’t supposed to fraternize with fellow agents. Maybe he could talk them into keeping it quiet and— He looked over his shoulder and froze, blood running cold as the hangover pounded in his ears. 

Hanzo lay sprawled on the bed, his long, glossy hair undone from its tight bun and spread over the pillow. His smooth skin was pale and unblemished save for the bite marks on his neck. A dark blue tattoo stretched across his left pec, over his shoulder, and down his arm to his wrist. It was absolutely gorgeous in its detail of golden lightning, and white and blue scales. 

Someone else groaned and rolled over, slinging an arm over Hanzo’s exposed abs. It was an arm with an equally gorgeous tattoo, green and gold and white. Genji lay face down in the bed, arm slung over his brother, bare assed, legs tangled up in the sheets. Claw marks left bright red trails over his hips and ass. 

“ _ Aw hell, _ ” Jesse swore, hangover suddenly gone. 

His first instinct was to leap out of the bed and spirit…  _ anywhere _ else. This was bad. This was so very,  _ very _ bad. He looked around. No pants or shirt to be found. Shit. Slowly, he eased himself off the bed. It didn’t even creek like his piece of shit mattress. Small miracles. 

Hanzo moaned again and rolled away from his brother, hand brushing against Jesse’s thigh before curling around his abandoned pillow. The touch sent a dangerously wonderful burst of pleasure up Jesse’s spine. 

Shit. Shit.  _ Shit _ ! Jesse tip-towed away from the bed, stepping over sleeping agents. There were landmines in the form of bottles, plates, discarded tablets. Fuck, please let everyone be sleeping like the dead and no one notice him in his skivvies sneaking out of bed. If this got back to Jack…. 

“ _ Aw. Hell. _ ” 

Jack would skin him alive if he found out about this. The Shimadas were  _ diplomats _ . They were  _ guests _ . And most importantly, they were  _ off limits _ . This could blow up in his face. It was going to blow up in his face. He was no whore, and now if anything worked out with the clan, they were always going to say it was because he’d gotten on his knees. Or had he? Fuck. He couldn’t even remember that. 

Quietly as he could, he let himself out the door. It swished closed behind him. Oh shit. He was in the Shatterdome in his boxers. Please don’t let Ana be watching the cameras. Or Satya. He just wanted to get to this room and die. It’d save Jack the trouble of having to kill him. 

Slinking through the corridors, Jesse made his way back to his own room. Never had the walk felt so long. Only a few people passed him in the halls, and they looked as worse for wear as he was. 

He let himself into his room and collapsed into bed. 

  
  


The blare of an alarm split his skull in two. Groaning, Jesse dragged himself up, groping for the alarm. His left hand smashed it. 

“Aw, hell.” 

Nothing was going right today. 

His communicator went off, making his head pound again. He grabbed for it with his other hand. 

“McCree,” he croaked. 

Lena’s voice came through in a rapid fire stream that assaulted every sense he had. All the words jumbled together and only every third found its way to his brain. 

“Slow down,” he grumbled, smacking his cheek to try to get himself functioning. “Say that again.” 

“I  _ said _ —” she sounded as angry as a bee in a bonnet. “I can’t find Reyes.” 

“That all?” Jese rubbed his face, nearly putting his eye out with a metal knuckle. “Lena, the Reaper likes to be left alone. He's probably holed up in a dark room somewhere sleeping off the party.” Buried up to his balls in Strike-Commander ass most likely. “I just woke up myself.” 

“Ugh! Just meet me—” 

Jesse lost the rest of what she was saying in a hurricane of words getting stuck in the sludge of his hangover. It sounded like: Me outside of if any where it her. She made no damn sense.

“Ugh…” he groaned. “Need coffee.” Lots and lots of coffee. Laced with about a bottle of painkillers.

“This is important, Jesse. Cowboy up!”

“Am a cowboy,” he mumbled into his pillow. 

Lena might have hung up at that point? Probably did. Did she? He lifted the communicator and checked the time. His eyes nearly popped out of his skull at what he saw. 

“Aw, hell!” 

He rolled out of the bed and scrambled into the bathroom. Shit, he was so late for his shift Jack was going to have his balls in a jar. He was a senior officer for fuck’s sake. 

The shower washed away the sweat and half a tube of toothpaste and a bottle of mouthwash got rid of the alcohol. He started pulling on a clean shirt, but stopped when something in the mirror caught his eye. 

“What in the— ” 

Claw marks criss-crossed his shoulder blades. Oh shit. Who’s? Where— Jesse gently touched one of the angry red marks. It burned pleasantly. 

“Aw hell. That ain’t good.” 

There were teeth marks on his ass. What in the name of— His mind flashed back to the Shimada brothers in bed. 

Oh fucking hell. He was in really deep shit. Hurriedly, he dressed, making sure no evidence was left showing. If the Jaeger gods were kind, no one involved would ever remember anything from last night—last two nights?— and everything would be fine. 

He left his room feeling like death warmed over. First stop, Ana. If she had been ordered to arrest him on sight for dereliction of duty, she’d at least give him a five minute head start. 

Hangover still pounding in his head, he headed to Ana’s office to see how deep the shit was that he was going to have to crawl out of. Before he could knock on her door, Lena flung it open, nearly hitting him. 

“Jesus,” he said, catching the door in his metal hand before it could do any damage. “Careful, girl.” 

“He’s not here,” she said. Dark bags hung under her dull, orange eyes. Looked like he wasn’t the only one nursing a bitch of a hangover. 

“Who’s not here?” 

“Reyes.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him away from Ana’s door and back down the hall. “We’re asking Dad.”

Shit. He still had to see if Jack wanted his head on a platter. “Why don’t I just give Ana a quick—”

“She hasn’t seen him or Dad since the party. I’m getting worried about them.” 

Jesse had no inclination to see what crazy-ass shapes the two of them had tied themselves into currently. “They’re probably exhausted, cottontail.”

“I have a bad feeling,” Lena said, not letting up and marching them right to Jack’s office. 

She didn’t knock. Jesse squinted as the door slid open, ready to cover her eyes should there be a less than respectable situation awaiting them. There was no one in the formal office, thank god. Lena didn’t stop, she set her sights on the personal office door and dragged them over, again without knocking.

“Wait a minute,” Jesse said, reaching to cover her eyes. 

“Sod off,” she said, pushing his hands away. 

Jack looked up from working on his tablet files. “Good afternoon, agents.”

After an assassination attempt, getting shot, a drawn out fire fight with a gang, and then fighting a kajiu with nothing but his fists, the guy should have the decency to look at least  _ slightly _ disheveled. But no. He looked perfect. As always. And here Jesse was in a rumpled uniform ready to lay down and die, and he'd only done half of what Jack had.

“I see you’re both feeling better.”

Jesse gave Jack what he hoped with a disarming smile. “Sorry 'bout that, Boss. Must'a got a little... carried away.”

Lena went to the desk and put her hands on it. “Where's Reyes?”

Was it Jesse's hangover, or did Jack's expression fall ever so slightly?

“He left.”

Jesse shook his head. “What?” He rubbed his ears to get rid of the drone in them. “I’m sorry, I thought I heard you say that Gabe  _ left _ .”

Jack stopped typing and set aside the tablet. “I did.”

“You mean left to get a glass of water, right?” Lena asked. “As in, he's gone out for a walk and he'll be back any moment, right?”

Jack laced his fingers together. “As in he left Gibraltar. I don’t know if he’ll return.” 

Jesse rocked back on his heels. Gabriel had ditched them? No goodbye, just snuck off in the night?

“But I don't—” Lena stammered. “He wouldn’t!” 

Jesse ground his teeth together. Gabriel had run. Again. 

“But he promised he was going to stay!” Lena exclaimed. “He wanted to! I don’t understand why—” 

Jack held up a hand. “Gabriel helped us more than I had ever imagined we would ask of him. He's done his duty. He’s free to do whatever he—”

“But not leave!” Lena shouted. She turned, grabbing Jesse’s arm. “Maybe we can still catch him!”

“He left yesterday,” Jack said.

“Yesterday?” Jesse roared. “While everyone was still celebrating  _ his _ damn victory?”

Jack shot him a stern look.

“Apologies, Sir,” Jesse said. “Didn't mean to swear in front of Lena.”

“How could you let him leave?” Lena demanded. “Did you at least try to stop him? Aren't you going to go after him? Dad, you—”

Jack held up his hand again. Lena fell silent. 

“Gabriel is his own man. If he decides to come back, he will.”

Lena set her jaw for a moment, then deflated. “Why didn’t you stop him?” she asked. 

Jack sighed, looking down at his desk. “I never intended to ask what I did of him. He already gave up his life once, Lena. Re-joining Overwatch means he'd have to do it again.”

Jesse worked his jaw back and forth. He needed a smoke something fierce. He didn't like what Gabe had done... but at least he understood. Sort of. It was a lot to ask of a man that lost so much to give it all up again. Still, Jesse wouldn't have traded his family here for anything. Surely Gabriel would have made that same choice?

“But he was happy here,” Lena insisted. “ Maybe if Jesse and I talked to him....” She looked at Jack, then Jesse.

Jack stood, shaking his head. “No, Lena. Gabe’s a man who doesn’t make the right decision for himself if he feels it’s selfish. He needs to decide what’s best for him, and I want him to be selfish for once in his life. I need him to make the right choice for him, not for everyone else.”

“But—” 

Jack put up his hand. “This subject is now closed. Understand?”

Lena opened her mouth. Jesse touched her elbow. He didn’t have to have Drifted with her to know what she was thinking. Hurt, confused, so very sad because she thought it was her fault somehow.

“It’s okay, Lena,” he assured her. “You know what they say about the ones you love right? Gotta let ‘em go.”

“If they return, they were always yours,” Jack finished. He sat back down picking up his tablet again. “There will be some shake ups in the very near future. You’ll both be re-assigned with new duties.” 

“And the Shimadas?” Jesse asked without thinking. 

Jack’s gaze was locked onto him, his eyebrow arched. Suddenly, the scratch marks felt like they were glowing right through his shirt. Was it just him? Or were the bites marks on his ass like little neon signs everyone could see? Jesse tried to give Jack a charming smile and hope he wasn’t giving anything away. But it felt like Jack had spotlights for eyes. A smoke was really,  _ really _ sounding good.

“Your new duties will take your full attention. I will find a new agent to keep an eye on the Shimadas.”

Jesse breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes, Sir.”

Jack arched an eyebrow. “Are they giving you problems, Jesse?” 

They were giving him heart palpitations. Just because Hanzo had a deathwish, wanting to sneak back home when it was too dangerous didn’t mean Jesse was about to get his own ass shot on account of a stubborn, rich kid’s ego.

“No, Sir. But then, I’m not one to take sass from a couple of mob kids. Not so sure someone else would stand as strong.” 

“Noted,” Jack said. “I’ll make sure they can’t sneak off when you transition to your new duties. Do either of you have any other concerns?” 

Lena scowled, fidgeting from foot to foot. “No, Sir.” 

Jesse arched an eyebrow at her before looking back at Jack. “Nope.”

“Then you two have the rest of the day off. Light duty on call if necessary, but you two have more than earned it. Dismissed, agents.” He picked up his tablet and went back to work.

Lena turned on her heel, storming out of the door. Jesse headed out after her. He was barely out of the formal office door when Lena grabbed his arm. 

“What are you doin'?”

She jabbed a finger in his chest. “We are finding Reyes and bringing him home!” she snapped.

Jesse put a hand over her mouth. “Shh,” he warned, “lower your voice.” PES era Jaeger Pilots had damn good hearing. 

He dragged her into an empty office and closed the door.

“Don't try to stop me,” Lena snapped, glaring at him, her bio-lights blazing brightly. “Doesn't matter what you say. I won't—”

“I want to find him too,” Jesse said. Though for socking him in the jaw for being an asshole reasons. “But you have to be smart about it.”

She blinked at him. “What?”

“You think Boss is just going to let you go off to look for Gabe? He’ll have you grounded before you set foot on the tarmac.”

She pouted, lower lip thrust out as she put her hands on her lips like she was ten, not eighteen. “Then I'll... I'll take leave time! He can't stop me then.”

Jesse chuckled. “Come on, cottontail. We don't even know where Boss found him, let alone where he's gone now.” But Jesse had an idea where he’d gone.

“You don't understand Jesse, we  _ have _ to bring him back.”

“Cottontail—”

“Dad's in love with him!” she blurted.

Before he could say anything, Lena rambled on.

“He's been in love with him forever. I know he is. When he first adopted me, he showed me all the newspaper articles he saved about the Reyes family and Lechuza Furia.”

Jesus, she said it “Let-choose-ya” exactly like Jack.

“He saved everything. And he had all their fights recorded and we'd watch them together. And I didn't know when I was ten but he would cry when he watched them. And they way he knew so much about him. He's been in love with him for ages.”

“Cottontail—”

“You didn't see his face,” Lena continued, her own eyes getting misty. “When we were going through Talon's Dark R&D files. When he found the one that said he might still be alive. Jesse, he looked so  _ happy _ .”

“Lena—”

“And his freeze ups stopped after that. Jesus, Jesse! He acted like he was  _ happy _ to be alive for once! We have to get Reyes back. I don't care what—”

Jesse clamped his hand on her mouth. “Stars above, girl! Hush for one second would you?”

Lena shoved him away. “What? This is important!”

“What I was going to say,” Jesse said with a grin. “was that there were only two people in all of Overwatch that didn't know those two were head over heels for one another... and it was them.”

Lena blinked at him. “What?”

“I've known since I was stationed at Shatterdome: L.A. that those two have been pining after one another for years before I got there.  _ Everyone _ knew.”

“But— So they both—then why did he leave?”

Jesse shook his head. “Don't know, don’t care. But we're getting him back.”

“How?” Lena bounced on her toes.

“If anyone knows where he went, it’s Ana.” 

“And she’d have to clear it with Satya to have him flown anywhere.” 

“I’ve got Ana.”

Lena nodded. “I got Satya.” She held out her pinkie finger. “We're going to get Dad and Reyes together.”

Jesse hooked his pinkie with hers and shook like they used to do when she was little. “Count on it. They deserve to be happy.” 

They broke apart, Lena hurrying arwary toward LOCCENT. Jesse considered detouring for a cup of coffee, but decided against. The sooner he was on a plane getting Gabriel back at Jack’s side, the better. Then everything would be good and back to normal. 

Normal? Jesse's steps slowed. Since when had Gabriel and Jack being together been his world’s normal? He decided not to think about that too much. The only thing he needed to concentrate on was beating the shit out of Gabe for leaving them  _ again _ .

Ana’s door was open when he got there. “Ana?” He asked from the doorway.

“Come in Jesse. Coffee is on the table for you.”

Jesse damn near swooned. “I could kiss you.” He found a waiting cup of black coffee on her interview table. 

“Should I be worried you're luring me into a trap?” Didn’t matter. Nothing was getting in between him and the coffee. He sat down and took the first glorious sip. 

“No,” Ana said, coming out from… wherever the hell she vanished to and from. “If I wanted to trap you, I would have used apple pie.” 

“Wouldn’t mind being trapped then,” Jesse said, flashing her a smile. 

She took a seat across from him, hands cradling her favorite tea cup. Her braid was down, and the collar of her uniform was unbuttoned. She looked as relaxed as he had ever seen, but he guessed getting romanced by a handsome, gentle knight and disappearing for several hours would make any woman happy. 

“Rein didn’t step on your toes too much?” 

Ana rolled her eye. “Don’t try to distract me. I know why you're here.” 

She never was one for small talk. “Then you can just put me on the next plane going the right direction and I’ll get out of your hair.” 

Ana shook her head. “I’m sorry, Jesse. I have direct orders from the Strike-Commander. No one is to go after Gabriel. No matter their good intentions.” 

Damn it. Jack must have heard Lena in the hall and told Ana. He sipped his coffee. Different tact then. 

“Come on, Ana. You know as well as I do they need each other.” 

Ana sighed. “I know.” 

“You don’t even have to tell me where. Just slide me a flight number.”

She shook her head. “You wouldn't understand, but I do. Trust me, Gabriel has a choice to make. Jack is giving him the space to make it.” 

“What choice? Being with us or being alone?” 

She smiled at him. “Do you remember coming with Jack to recruit me?” 

“How could I forget. It was a two year process.” At the time, Jesse couldn't understand why she’d resisted so much, and why Jack hadn’t pressed. He still couldn’t really understand. 

“It’s a little like that. Gabe has… issues to work out. Give him time. He’ll make the right decision.” 

With help. Specifically Lena and himself dragging his dumb ass back here now that Ana was against them. 

“Well I sure as hell don’t understand,” he said, sipping more coffee. “We’re his family. Family’s supposed to stick together.”

Ana reached out, patting Jesse’s hand. “You do understand, you just see it from a different angle.” 

“You’re really not going to help me?” He gave her the best, Lena-inspired puppy-dog eyes. 

Ana took back her hand and shook her head. He sighed and sipped again. 

“All right.” He and Lena were going it alone. He finished the coffee and stood. “Jack’s gonna reassign me. Whoever you put on the Shimadas, make sure they have balls of steel.” 

Ana chuckled. “Noted.” 

“And speaking of, better go make sure they're not trying to hijack a plane out of here.” 

“Go easy on them Jesse,” Ana told him. “Loss has a way of changing people.” 

“We’ve all lost people,” Jesse said. “Doesn’t mean you try to get yourself killed.” He turned on his heel and left the office. 

He got it. He really did. Losing family was the worst thing in the world. He’d lost his own twice. There wasn’t going to be a third time. And he wasn’t going to allow a grief-stricken brat get one of his family killed for nothing more than pride. He stopped outside the diplomatic wing door. 

Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door. Several minutes later, it opened. Hanzo stood before him, dressed—thank god— in casual wear and a thick jacket. The usual scowl seemed even deeper etched into his face. Very different from a few hours ago when he looked so peaceful in sleep. 

Whoa. Jesse had to scrub that image from his mind ASAP. He pushed up his hat to give his hand something to do.

“Mornin’ sunshine,” he said. “Sleep good?” Was he trying to get himself hit?

Hanzo’s eyes narrowed a moment, then, he  _ smiled. _

_ That _ threw Jesse. In all three days he’d been here, Hanzo had never smiled. What the hell was going on?

“I slept remarkably well,” Hanzo said, smug smile still in place. He stepped back, waving into the room. “Please, come in.” 

Trap. This was a trap. There was no way this wasn’t a trap. Jesse arched an eyebrow and stayed rooted to the spot. 

Hanzo shrugged and walked back into the room, leaving the door open. It was a goddamn challenge and there was no way Jesse could back down, trap or no. He stepped into the dragon’s den to see how things played out. 

All the agents were gone. Hopefully sleeping off the party. A lot of the mess had been picked up. Jesse wondered who the hell would have picked up on their way out the door. 

“Cowboy,” Genji said from his place sprawled out on a couch. 

He had pants on— thank god— But no shirt. The bandages around his chest were covered by his dragon. It was coiled up like a snake, head resting on its twisting body. 

“You look good for a recently stabbed guy,” Jesse said, coming over to stand beside him. “At this rate, you’ll be on your feet in no time.”

Genji scoffed. “I feel like shit. I partied too hard last night.” He scratched behind the dragon’s horns. “Only Sushi understands the pain I’m in.”

The dragon lifted its head, leaning into the scratches, the bright-emerald scales had been scared, leaving a pattern of black along it. 

“You both look good for everything that’s happened.” 

Genji waved a dismissive hand, but grinned. “Flatterer.” 

“He does have a silver tongue.” 

Chills shot up Jesse’s spine at the voice right behind him. He turned. Hanzo stood uncomfortably close to him. Well, not uncomfortable, more like dangerously too inviting. Hanzo flashed another calculating smile. 

Jesse’s world was already on shifting ground. Whatever this was, it really wasn’t helping him to stabilize. Hanzo stepped around him, going to his brother’s side and dropping off a glass of water. Genji took it and sipped. 

Hanzo turned his gaze back to Jesse. “Time for your babysitting shift, Mr. McCree? I thought we were past this.”

Damn it. Why did that sound so good dropping from Hanzo’s lips like that? It wasn’t fair. “Ain’t babysitting, it’s bodyguarding. Big difference.” He expected Hanzo to snort and scoff, say something about Jesse being a terrible bodyguard and not needing one like he had every day. 

Instead, Hanzo smirked again, lifting one eyebrow. “That’s what you call it?”

Before Jesse could make any sense of that, Hanzo turned and walked away, disappearing into the kitchen. Jesse staried after him, jaw slack. Nothing about today was right. 

“My brother is in a strange mood,” Genji said, waving a hand. “Ignore him.” Slowly, Genji pushed himself up to a sitting position, careful to slide his dragon into his lap with the least amount of disturbance. “So—” He yawned. “Do you remember what happened last night?”

“I hit my bed and passed out,” Jesse said.

Genji stopped stretching. “I could have sworn you were at my afterparty.” 

“Nope,” Jesse lied. “I had to be a responsible adult and get back to work this morning.” 

“Damn,” Genji muttered, “must have got way drunker than I thought. The Zieglers are going to be mad.”

“And speaking of my orders,” Jesse went on. “Good news for ya. You won’t have to put up with me for much longer. I’m getting reassigned.” 

“What? But I like you!” 

“I’m flattered, but there are a lot of shake ups coming. Don’t worry, I’ll put in a good word to get you a detail nearly as good as me.” 

“No.” 

Jesse turned around to see Hanzo leaning against the doorway to the kitchen. One dragon curled around his feet, the other draped over his shoulders like a scarf. 

“What do you mean, ‘no?’” Jesse asaked. 

“There will be no personnel changes,” he said, casual as could be, like he was in charge. 

Jesse glanced at Genji, just to make sure he’d heard him too, but Genji just stared at his dragon. Well then, Jesse was going to have to be diplomatic about telling someone to fuck off. He forced himself to smile. 

“Well now, I know you might have gotten attached to me, but this is from way above my rank. It’s happening.” 

Hanzo made a flicking motion with his fingers. Rage twisted his gut, surged up his throat, and only by clenching his teeth kept a flood of swear words from clouding the room. 

“I’ll speak with the Strike-Commander. You will remain our bodyguard.” 

Jesse gritted his teeth harder. “That ain’t how things work ‘round here.” 

Hanzo pushed himself off the wall and crooked a finger at Jesse. “Come.” He walked away. 

Jesse clenched his fists, teeth grinding down to nubs. Diplomatic, diplomatic, be diplomatic. Jesse sucked in a breath and kept a cool head. But it was a hard thing to do. He followed Hanzo out of the living room into a side, reading room. Hanzo waited, chin tilted up, arms crossed. Jesse couldn’t force himself to smile. 

“I’m here.” 

Hanzo handed over his phone. Jesse took it, arching an eyebrow. Hanzo said nothing, merely flicked his gaze to the phone and back. Jesse swiped his thumb across the screen. A video immediately started playing. 

Jesse’s stomach hit the floor and a panic sweat broke out on the back of his neck. Oh goddamn. Was it cold in here? How the fuck did it suddenly get so cold in here?

“As I said,” Hanzo went on, “you will remain our bodyguard.”

Jesse’s gaze snapped up. “You’re blackmailing me?” 

“You are going to help me return to Shimada Castle,” Hanzo went on. “If not, everyone will know that this—” He nodded at his phone. “ —is how Overwatch conducts its diplomacy.” 

“You’re a  _ real _ piece of work,” Jesse growled. 

Hanzo was unphased. “I do what I must.” His glare bored into Jesse’s. “Do we have an understanding, Mr. McCree?” 

What were his options? Give in? Get Hanzo back to Japan to get himself killed? Get his brother killed? 

This was a goddamn bitch of a situation. He needed to walk a line between saving his own ass and keeping Hanzo from getting his brains splattered. Why the hell was he risking his neck if Hanzo was such a damn fool and didn’t care who he got killed? What choice did he have? 

“And what's to keep me from crushing this and pretending it never happened?” 

“If you think I haven’t taken precautions, you are a bigger fool than I assumed.”

Jesse squeezed his hand and the phone’s screen cracked. Hanzo didn’t even flinch.

“Return me to Japan and the video stays between us,” he said. “It is that simple.” 

“Or I could tell the Strike-Commander what you’re trying to do and have it sorted that way.” 

“You could, but you don’t want him to think less of you.” 

Goddamnit. 

Hanzo smiled. “We have an understanding then.” 

Jesse shoved the cracked phone back at him. “We have an understanding.” The only thing keeping him from smashing his metal fist in that smug face was a goddamn video. 

“I expect results before the end of the week,” Hanzo said. “If I am not home by then—” 

“Hold your horses,” Jess snapped. “It ain’t that easy. I need time.” To figure the fuck out what he was going to do.

“End of the week,” Hanzo repeated.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesse's adventures in dealing with bullshit continues.

** Chapter 2  **

Jesse tried not to fidget with his tie. Formal attire sucked. Always made him feel claustrophobic. And it didn’t help that he was standing behind Jack and Reinhardt in front of the full goddamn UN council. 

The last place on Earth he wanted to be was in the spotlight. He was more of a behind the scenes kind of guy. Fancy rich people in suits made him nervous. 

“Are you ready Strike-Commander?” Reinhardt asked. 

Jack nodded once. 

“Jesse?” Rein asked him. 

“I’d rather be anywhere else,” he muttered. 

“Like pain, this will pass,” Rein said. 

“Yeah, well, pain sucks. I’ve had enough of it. If you don’t mind, Boss,” Jesse said, eyeing the hundreds of assembled suits waiting in judgement, “I’ll just stand off to the side and lend moral support. Or covering fire.” After the last time Jack spoke to the UN, Ana wasn’t messing around with security. Jack had half an army covering him. 

“Shouldn’t be necessary,” Jack said. He looked over his shoulder. “But you have your flashbangs, right?” 

Jesse nodded and brushed his metal hand over the bandolier of paralysis flashbangs. Finally being allowed to have a weapon on him made him feel better. But hurting diplomats would make heads explode. 

“Then I’m not worried.” Jack strode away, Reinhardt at his side. 

Jesse waited at the doorway, scratching his chin as Jack mounted the steps to the podium. Why they needed to have a full council was beyond Jesse. Call Petras, tell him what happened, let him deal with the fallout. They had too much to put right back home. 

Jack put his hands on the podium. “Ladies and Gentlemen of the Council. Overwatch has been attacked three times in as many days. I’m sure you are all aware of the battle that took place in the Watchpoint’s harbor.”

There were subdued mutterings that rippled through the gathered big-wigs. 

“Years of defunding put Overwatch at a huge disadvantage. Through negligence, mismanagement, and distrust, we were allowed to decline to a place where one madman was nearly able to destroy us.” 

Jack’s hands clenched. 

“This cannot be allowed to happen again. The world’s security cannot hinge on the whims of political advantage. That’s why I am beginning the process of splitting Overwatch away from full UN control. Instead, we will be an equal, cooperative branch.” 

Jesse’s jaw dropped. Holy— Did he— was he really— 

The UN room erupted into what Jesse could only describe as flustered rich people clutching their pearls. About eighty percent of him was amused at the sight of all the hoity toity types losing their shit. The other twenty percent could only think: what the hell kind of mess had they just jumped into? 

~

  
  


Jesse ran his hand over his face. An entire day of back to back meetings had sapped his will to live. Shooting himself in the foot sounded fun. If he had to hear another hour of fancy politicians go on about  _ oversight _ and  _ trust _ and  _ regulations _ , he was going to put Peacekeeper in his mouth to get the hell out. 

“What do you think, Jesse?” Jack asked. 

He snapped out of his half-dazed thoughts and shook himself back to awareness. “Huh?”

Jack arched an eyebrow, looking at him expectantly. Shit. 

“Uh, I agree with you, boss. One hundred percent.” 

“So, you're fine giving up your officer's quarters to the new recruits? I knew you’d understand.”

Jesse sputtered. “What?” No way! He worked hard for that promotion and the room that came with it. He was  _ not _ moving back into a four-man bunk.

Jack chuckled. “Relax. I just wanted to see if you were paying attention.”

“Sorry, Boss,” Jesse said, rubbing the back of his metal hand. “Maybe I, uh, got a little lost in thought.”

Jack put his hand on Jesse's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “I know it's boring, but you've been a real help to me.”

“You’re just sayin’ that,” Jesse muttered. What  _ would _ be helpful was dragging in Gabe by his ear. “I could be doing more.” 

“Well, I think I'm about to make your day,” Jack said with a ghost of a smile. “I've got an assignment for you.”

Jesse perked up at the mention of anything that wasn't sitting on his ass. He felt guilty for it. “Thanks, boss, but uh, if it's all the same to you, I think I'll stick around. It'd do me a world of good to get better at this... political stuff. 'sides, what would you do without me?”

Jack laughed. “Jesse, you are a terrible liar sometimes.”

No he wasn't. He was a damn good liar. “I take offense to that.”

“I wanted to wait until Lena was with you, but you look like you need hope that these meetings will end.”

Jesse barely resisted the urge to nod. 

Jack leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. He looked slightly older than when they’d walked into this room after his announcement. That felt like months ago now. Jack ran a hand through his hair. 

“I’m reassigning you away from your current tasks. We've got our first wave of new recruits showing up at the end of the week. You and Lena are going to be in charge of their boot camp. After that, you two will be working together to separate them into one of the three new divisions.”

“That's a big responsibility....” And it sounded an awful lot like babysitting. “Think Lena would be better at getting people to settle in. Maybe I should—”

“You’ll be their commanding officer,” Jack said, “and I know you’ll be great.” 

Jesse narrowed his eyes. “You plannin’ something?”

Jack grinned a little knowing grin. Oh yeah. He had something planned all right.

“Consider it a test. For both of you.”

Great. Jesse hated those. He mulled over what his new position would entail. “I’ll be in charge of who makes it onto the teams?” 

Jack nodded. 

“And I’ll get to say who goes onto what team.” 

Jack nodded again.

A plan started formulating in the back of Jesse’s mind. This…this could be just what he was looking for. He grinned. “Oh, this will do  _ nicely _ .”

~

  
  


“McCree!” Hanzo’s sharp tone made Jesse look up. 

“Howdy.” He pushed himself off the wall he was waiting on. He tipped his hat. “How’s that new agent treatin’ ya?” 

Hanzo bore down on him like a blue, pinstriped tsunami. Jesse stuck his hands in his pockets and cocked his head to one side as Hanzo stopped only an inch away from him. The smoldering furry in his eyes was so intense, it cracked his icy, emotionless mask. 

“You are out of time,” he snarled. 

“Now, now,” Jesse said, cool as could be. “I said I needed time to figure out a way. Well, now I have one.” 

Hanzo’s teeth clenched, his lip curling into the fleetest of sneers. “And when were you going to tell me of this plan of yours?” 

Jesse slid his hand in his pocket, pulled out his communicator, checked the time. Steam might have been coming out of Hanzo’s ears, but Jesse kept his eye on the time, before sliding the communicator back in his pocket. 

“Oh, about a minute. Just waiting on your brother.” 

Hanzo’s eyes widened for a split second. “Genji was not part of the deal.” 

Jesse shrugged. “He is now.” 

Renewed anger clouded Hanzo’s face. Before the fury could be unleashed, Genji’s voice rang out. 

“Good, you’re already here, brother!” Genji clapped Hanzo on his shoulder. “Jesse wouldn’t tell me anything. Was he telling you the big surprise?” 

“No. He did not.” 

How Hanzo could scowl even harder, Jesse didn’t know, but it felt damn good to see. 

“Didn’t want to ruin the surprise.” He nodded toward the big doors. “Follow me.” He pushed off the wall and led them through the doors into the practice range. 

He brought them to a halt in the middle of the huge Overwatch logo painted on the wide open floor. 

“What is the meaning of this?” Hanzo demanded. “Where are we?”

Genji looked around. “Are guns going to come out of the floor? More of those mecha?” 

Jesse checked the time again. “Wait just a minute, she always runs a little late.” 

On cue, the barrack side doors opened. 

“And here—” came Lena’s voice as she backed into view. “—is the training room where the bulk of your time is going to be spent.” 

A dozen young recruits in Overwatch blues filed in after Lena. Some looked barely old enough to sign the legal paperwork, others looked roughly his age. Toward the back of the line was a very familiar face. 

Fareeha met his gaze and winked at him. Oh shit. He wondered if Ana knew about this, or if later he was going to run into her in a room he couldn’t escape from. Fareeha’s application had been radioactive ever since the first time she submitted it. Why had Jack changed his mind now? 

All the recruits followed Lena to stand in front of him. Twelve people looking up to him, counting on him to make sure he brought out their full potential in just a few weeks. They crowded around the Shimada brothers, ignoring personal space. Jesse nearly cracked a smile at Hanzo’s disgusted expression. He looked at Jesse, then the recruits, then back to Jesse. 

Lena bounced to his side with all her high energy flurry. “All right everyone, look alive! This is Agent McCree, your commanding officer.”

Jesse tipped his hat at the recruits. “Howdy.” 

“He’s the best agent on this base besides me, so if you impress him, that’ll go a long way to you getting accepted onto the teams.”

Jesse ignored Hanzo’s sharp glare. 

Lena clapped Jesse on the shoulder. “They’re all yours.” 

Jesse put his thumbs in his belt loops and smiled. “Well now, y’all look like a talented bunch.” 

One of the young ladies— even younger and smaller than Lena— up front lifted her hand. Her brown hair was pulled back into a tight bun and on her cheeks were pink streaks that glowed faintly. Jesse cocked to head to one side. “Yes, Miss?” 

“I’m a legacy recruit,” she said, matter of factly. “Top of Busan Academy. Can I get to impressing you now?” 

Oh boy. This was one he’d have to keep an eye on. He smiled. “Sure can.” 

Her eyes widened for a moment, like she hadn’t expected that. “Awesome! What do you want me to show you? My sim score is—” 

“Six laps,” Jesse said. He nodded toward the far doors that led outside. 

“What?” the young recruit asked. 

Jesse held out a hand. Lena plopped the profile tablet into his hand, page already open to the recruit in question. 

“Recruit Song,” Jesse drawled. “Six laps. I’m timing you.” He ticked off the stopwatch function.

“But I—” she began. 

He turned the tables around, showing her the timer. “Tick tock.” 

Recruit Song gave him a wide-eyed look, then took off running for the doors to the track. When she was gone, Jesse turned back to the rest. 

“Anyone else want to start training right away?” 

No one spoke up. 

“Good.” Jesse handed the tablet back to Lena. “First thing you need to know is all of the positions here are team positions. If you’re thinking of being a solo superhero, or a breakout star, you know where the exit is. That ain’t happening here.” 

The recruits didn’t say anything, and none of them moved. 

“These people at your side, you're going to depend on them to save your life. Ain’t no ‘I’ in ‘team.’ So, if anyone’s standing here looking for glory and fame, this ain’t the place for you.” 

The recruits stared at him with wide eyes and closed mouths.

“Good. Now, like Agent Oxton was saying, I’ll be your instructor on this first step toward recruitment. If you listen to the two of us, and give this program everything you’ve got, chances are you're gonna make it.”

“We’re here to guide you and see where your natural talents lie,” Lena added. “We’re here to lift you up, not stand in your way.”

Jesse nodded. “If you make it past us, we’ll refer you onto either the MEKA, Strike, or Jaeger teams. So, impress us.” 

“Sir, yes, Sir!” the class shouted back at him. 

“Now, unless anyone wants to join Recruit Song on the track, please follow Lena to the practice range. We’ll be taking a baseline weapon accuracy test.” 

“All right everyone,” Lena said, walking backwards, waving her arms above her head like an aircraft marshaller. “Follow me and we’ll run through the safety drill before we begin testing.” 

Genji looked at Jesse. “Wait, you’re putting me into recruit training?”

Jesse nodded. “If you want. The Strike-Commander’s offer still stands.” 

Genji’s eyes lit up. “Yes!” 

“If you want to be a Jaeger pilot, this is the first step. But you’re taking it easy until that chest wound clears up.” 

“I don’t even feel it anymore.” Genji trotted off and joined the crowd of recruits, elbowing his way to Lena’s side. 

A hand slammed into Jesse’s chest, nearly knocking the wind out of him. Before the blow really registered, fingers curled into his shirt and he was yanked off his center of balance. The hand forced him back. He stumbled and then his back hit a wall. 

Hanzo was in his face, lips peeled back into a snarl. It was handsome in its— shit, no, he couldn’t be thinking that. 

“What is the meaning of this, McCree?” 

Jesse pulled himself back together. He smiled. “This is your ticket home.” 

Hanzo’s brow furrowed. 

“Overwatch is going to deal with the situation in Japan. The only way you're ever getting home is with a trained team.” 

Hanzo’s hold tightened and Jesse’s rebellious heart pounded a little harder at the manhandling. 

“This was  _ not _ the deal,” Hanzo snarled. “You were to get me home in a week not— ”

“Ah, ah, ah,” Jesse counted. “You only said help you return to Japan. You didn’t specify how or when.” 

“It should have been clear to you—” 

Jesse clamped his metal hand on Hanzo’s squeezing until the flesh fingers popped open from their grip. Hanzo’s eyes widened as Jesse easily pulled the hand off of him. 

“I’ve had enough of this,” Jesse said, lowering his voice to a threatening rumble. “Now you listen to me, you spoiled sonofabitch. The only way you’re stepping foot on your island again is if  _ I  _ say so,  _ how _ I say so.” 

Hanzo stared at him, eyes wide. Jesse went on, trying and failing to ignore the sense of satisfaction curling around his mind. 

“I’m playing your game, Shimada, but you are playing by  _ my _ rules.” 

Hanzo recovered his normal, sneering self. “Then the Strike-Commander will see how you handle diplomacy.”

Jesse stared him down, smoothing his features and gave Hanzo the best bluff face he had. 

“I guarantee you, he finds out about that, you’re gonna get locked in a room. He’ll only let you get out on a leash.”

Hanzo growled and a shiver wormed its way up Jesse’s spine. He liked it, and that was dangerous as fuck. 

“You test my patience, McCree.” 

Jesse grabbed Hanzo’s shirt and flipped their positions, giving him a good smack into the wall. “I want you out as much as you want to be out. But if you want to test me, go ahead. Make my day.” 

Hanzo glared at him, not saying anything. Jesse met his gaze. He really wished Hanzo would take a swing. It’d feel good to throw some punches. But hitting someone in front of the recruits would be an unconscionable mistake. 

Oh, but it would feel _so_ _good_. 

Hanzo lifted his chin, not giving an inch. “Remove your hand.”

_ Make me, _ was on the tip of Jesse’s tongue. He resisted. “As long as we understand each other.” 

“We understand each other,” Hanzo growled out.

“Good.” Jesse let him go. “Now, get with the other recruits.” 

Hanzo pulled himself up, falling five inches shorter than Jesse, but seeming every inch his equal. “I will be placed on the team of my choosing.” 

“You’ll earn your place.” 

“There will never be a question.” 

Cocky son of a bitch. Why did he like it? “We’ll see about that.” 

  
  


~

  
  


Jesse made a mark on the performance section of the candidate's file. “Seven looks good.”

“You know they have names,” Lena admonished him. “They don’t like being referred to by numbers.” 

“I ain’t good with names.” Lena’s notes appeared on his tablet, agreeing with him, pointing out the time was below Seven’s average. “Speed ain't everything, cottontail.” 

“In a fight it is.” Her hand moved up and down, stylus swooping across the screen, making another note. “Nothing yet?” 

He paused, watching Three and Four help each other into the mock drive suits. They fumbled the pieces for a second time and Jesse checked the box to increase their training time. “Haven’t heard anything.” He didn’t need any explanation. He knew who she was talking about. 

She sighed. “And with this babysitting, I can’t get away. Think they did it on purpose?” She stood on her toes and looked down. “Hana’s not giving up the simulator again.” 

Jesse rolled his eyes. “Number Eleven has problems giving up control.” 

“Hana,” Lena corrected him. “It’s not that hard. Hana. Say it with me.  _ Haaa-naaa _ .” 

“Number Eleven,” Jesse said. 

“You’re terrible.” 

He grinned at her huff. “But you love me anyways.” 

“Forever,” she assured him. “No matter how terrible you are.” 

“I’ll hold you to that.” He waited a heartbeat, then— “Like say if I needed a ride somewhere.” 

“You’re the one with the truck,” Lena scoffed. 

“I was thinking of somewhere a little further than where the truck can get me.” 

Her stylus paused. “How far away?” 

“Pretty far. Wouldn’t want to worry Jack or Ana about it. They don’t need to be bothered.” 

Lena casually went back to writing. “Maybe I could give you a ride. Of course I wouldn't want to bother them either. But me giving you a ride might draw their attention.” 

“Not to worry. I might have that covered. Won’t even know we’re gone because we won’t be leaving.” 

“Then I’d be happy to help on the condition that you involve me in the fun you’ll be having.” 

“Just running a bit of an errand. Gotta straighten something out.” 

Lena stuck the stylus behind her ear. “I’m good at straightening things out. Count me in.” 

“I’ll let you know when I’m ready.” He grinned. “Or I could tell Number Nine you want to talk to her after hours.” 

Lena went from snow-white to ruby-red in an instant. She fumbled her tablet, nearly dropping it. “What? No. What are you talking about? Emily doesn’t want to talk to me!” 

“You two are on a first name basis?” 

“Yes! No! I meant no. But Lena is my name so she could call me that if she wanted.” 

Jesse leered at her. “Shouldn’t you make her call you Agent Oxton?” 

Her ears turned as red as her face and her biolights blazed like landing lights. “No! I’m not going to— she doesn’t want to—” 

“You don’t know until you ask. Why don’t you ask her what she’d like to call you?” 

Lena shook her head. “No, no, no! She is very busy being a great recruit and if I talk to her everyone will think she’s getting special treatment and I don’t want to ruin team morale like that!”

Goddamn she was so easy to fluster. Jesse chuckled. 

Lena turned her heated glare on him. “If you’re so eager to talk, why don’t you work out what’s between you and Hanzo.”

Jesse shrugged. “Nothing to talk about.” His gaze went to the elder Shimada before he could stop himself. 

Hanzo was in a perfect tailored Overwatch uniform—fuck, he looked good in blue— at the target range. Thank god no one could see them up here because Jesse couldn’t stop looking at the tight ass in those snug pants. 

“He and I don’t see eye to eye. Simple as that.” 

“ _ Please _ ,” Lena drawled. “Everyone can see there’s some kind of tension between you two.”

“There ain’t no sexual tension between us.”    
  


Lena smirked. “I didn’t say  _ sexual _ tension.” 

“Just get back to evaluating the troops,” Jesse said. “We have to separate them in a few days and we’d better do it right.” 

“I know, I know.” She went back to her tablet. 

Just when Jesse thought the subject was dropped— 

“I can cut it with a knife you know.” 

“What?”

“The sexual tension between you two.” Lena giggled. 

Jesse jammed his thumb onto the PA button. “Recruit Emily. Report to the observation deck immediately. Agent Oxton wants to speak with you.” 

He barely pulled his thumb back in time to cut off the feed before Lena crashed into him, tackling him to the floor. 

  
  


~

  
  


Jesse waited, rain coming down in streams from the edges of his hat. The silver smoke from his cigarillo drifted out, lazily floated up before the rain dispersed it. 

The Dome’s floodlights were the only things able to cut through the darkness. Lena’s biolights struggled to cut through the darkness like a beacon as she approached. 

“Ready,” she said, the furry collar of her bomber jacket plastered to her neck from the rain. 

Jesse pulled the cigarillo from his lips. “Everything tied up?” 

She nodded. “I got Dad all settled in for the night and put some extra honey in his tea with that stuff Dante gives him to help him sleep. He didn’t eat though. Again.” 

“Don’t worry. He’ll be fine soon. No one followed you?”

“Ana is entertaining Reinhardt, listening to the story of the MEKA attack.” Lena winked at him. “She won’t get free for hours.” 

With a little luck, none of them would be the wiser until they got back.“Good. Now how about that ride?”

Lena gave him double finger pistols and stepped out onto the tarmac. “If you got the gas money, let's go.” 

He followed her out into the rain. His borrowed ID opened the door to the hanger, then the plane without issue. Lena held out her hand. Jesse passed over the second borrowed ID. She took it and vanished into the cockpit. Jesse locked the cabin as the engine turned on. 

Grinding the butt of the cigarillo between his teeth, he sat, fingers digging into the armrest. It was worth flying. It’d be over soon. 

  
  
  


~

  
  


“You sure he’s here?” Lena asked. 

“Was here,” Jesse corrected. He looked the building over. Tall, plain, with a lot of windows. 

“How long ago?” 

“According to the timestamp, three days ago.”

“That long?” She sounded put out. 

“Only lead we have,” Jesse said. Because Ana watched her fucking computers like a hawk. Jack, however, had a moment of weakness. Jesse doubted it would happen again. “Gotta take what we can get. 

They mounted the steps to the front doors and pushed through them. 

“Welcome to the Kaiju War Museum,” a young attendant said with a bright smile. “Do you have a tour appointment?” 

“No, Sir,” Jesse said. “But I’m hoping you can help me out. We’re looking for a friend—” 

“He’s really tall,” Lena added, “like him tall.” She jabbed a finger in Jesse’s side. “Wears a beanie, all black, looks real mean, like, his face might murder you, but he’s secretly a teddy bear who likes hugs and gives all the best life advice?” 

The attendant looked mildly bewildered at Lena’s rapid words. Jesse put a hand over her mouth. 

“What she means to say is, we’re looking for a friend of ours that was here a couple days ago.” 

The kid shook his head. “I’m sorry, we see a lot of people everyday. Did he take a VIP tour? I could check the records.” 

“Naw, he wouldn't have taken a tour. Probably would have just kept himself, maybe lingered around the  Alpine Epsilon exhibit?” 

“No, that doesn’t ring any bells. We see so many people… I could ask some of the other staff—” 

“No, but thanks. We’ll still have a look around.” He paid their entrance fee and ushered Lena inside. 

“Not that I don’t want to go,” Lena began, “but do we have time? Should we be combing the city or something?” 

“Gabriel came here for a reason.” He needed to figure out why. Why here of all places? Not L.A.? They wandered the exhibits. Lena would dart off to look at something and come back. When they reached The Skull, Jesse stopped. Lena hung at his side, hands in her pockets, elbow pressed against his arm for support. 

“Not so cool up close now,” she said softly. “I don’t ever want to see another breathing one ever again.” 

“They’re better dead.” Jesse put his arm around her shoulders. “You were crazy brave out there. Think the kaiju don’t ever want to come face to face with you again either.” 

She let out a mirthless chuckle. “I’ll take your word for it.”

They took their time through the rest of the museum. Jesse took off his hat when they entered the Alpine Epsilon display. 

“Did you know them?” Lena asked as they stood before the sole surviving piece of San Francisco's Jaeger. 

“Met ‘em once,” he told her, never taking his eyes off the twisted metal. “Pilots aren't allowed far from their Jaeger. They only showed up once for a meeting of the West Coast Fleet. Real nice gals. Great pilots. Good people. Ally and Gabriel were a lot closer with them than me.” 

“Do you think he came here for this?” she asked, nodding at the piece. 

“I’d put money on it.” 

“But where would he go after?”

Gabriel had been here three days ago. That was too long a gap where he hadn’t come home. San Francisco wouldn’t have been his starting point, but then end. Why wasn’t he here? What was still keeping him away? 

Lena took him by the elbow. “Look. There's one last thing to see.” She pulled him toward a balcony exit.

It had an amazing view of the water and the rocky hills across the bay. In the distance, through the characteristic fog rolling in, a hand poked out of the darkness. Jesse folded his arms in front of him and leaned on the rail. 

_ Of course _ . It made sense now. He was a damn fool for not seeing it before. 

Lena hopped up on the rail, legs dangling over the side as she stared across the bay. “It’s crazy, isn’t it? We’ve seen so many Jaegers, and they seem so unbeatable… but then Oblivion Bay is _ right  _ there. A Jaeger graveyard. I can’t reconcile it.” 

“Nothing’s unbeatable, especially death.” He pushed away from the railing. “Come on, I know where he is.” 

“What? How? Did he use the credit card again?” 

“Trust me,” he said. “He’s visiting an old friend.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one more chapter left


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we get into the REAL epilogue of the story. :) Hope you all enjoy.

Chapter Three 

“This isn’t the best idea,” Lena said as she splashed down into a puddle on the ground beside him.

Jesse shook his head. “Didn’t say it was a good idea. I told you to wait outside the fence.” 

“And let you have all the fun? No way.” 

“Just watch your step and keep up. Don’t want to be here any longer then we need to be.” 

“If we get radioactive superpowers, I’ll blame you.”

Jesse led the way into the exclusion zone as a soft rain began to fall yet again. He’d never dreamed he’d be here, walking among the graves. He’d always known what happened to  _ Lechuza _ and how Talon had disgraced her, dumping her here. He’d rather let her forever remain standing tall in his memory. 

But Gabe needed rescuing from the past. 

It took an hour of careful hiking and much consulting the spotty map before he caught sight of her. The moment Lena did, she grabbed his hand, squeezing it hard. 

“Oh, Jesse….”

It was a shame Lena had to see her like this. 

“She’s beautiful.”

He took a good, long look. Beaten up, busted, missing an arm and a hole in her chest…. still, _ Lechuza Furia _ still looked graceful. Like at any moment, she’d push herself up, ready for another round. 

“I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be the idiot pickin’ a fight with her,” he said. 

Lena squeezed his hand again, reassuring him. “Thank you for letting me come. I’ve always wanted to see her in person.” 

“I know.” 

“You really think he’s here? With her?” 

Jesse nodded. They continued on. The closer he got, the more uneasy he became. He didn’t see a camp at  _ Lechuza’s _ feet, or anywhere nearby. Gabe  _ couldn’t _ have been stupid enough to risk— Jesse didn’t even bother finishing the thought. He knew exactly where Gabe would be. 

“I’ll check behind,” Lena said. “We’ll find him.” 

“Don’t bother. He’s up there.” 

Lena craned her neck back. “Is the Conn-pod even safe?” 

“It’s shielded pretty heavily. Even with the broken visor, everything from the Mark Twos up were made with radiation poisoning in mind.” 

Lena punched his arm. “I meant with broken glass and wet metal! Now you’ve got me worried about radiation!”

“He’s fine, don’t worry. I’ll go get him.” 

“I’m coming too.” 

“No. That metal is slick and there’s not a lot of room.”

“I’m not a child, Jesse.” 

“No, but if one of us breaks their damn fool neck I’d rather it be me.” He flashed her a grin. “I can’t fly the plane home.” 

“Fine. But if you cut yourself and bleed out because I’m not up there to save you, I’m going to say I told you so.” 

“You got it.” He ruffled her hair and started his climb.

The metal was slick. Shards of broken armor clawed at him, scraping his boots. Some of the maintenance crew's hand and foot holds were still intact. Sweating, tired, and after a few razor edge close calls, he made it to the busted out optical array. He grabbed the jagged pieces with his metal hand and steadied himself. Peering into the darkness, his eyes slowly adjusted. 

The pod was trashed. One motion rig was gone, the other rusted and ready to fall at any moment. The gyroscope had cracked and the command console was missing. Water dripped from a hole in the ceiling that had a blanket stretched across it. 

Slowly, the shadows on the fringes receded. Gabe was huddled in a corner. The knot of anger Jesse had carried in his heart lessened. 

Gabe was soaking wet, shivering, and for the first ever time, appeared small. His head lifted, red-rimmed gaze lost. He blinked, looking at Jesse without seeing him. And he couldn’t even be mad seeing Gabe in this state.

This small space had been Gabe’s entire world for a good chunk of his life. He’d lost his sister here, lost everything here. Even his legacy was in tatters and forgotten by all but a few. Maybe this was the first time since it happened that Gabe had a chance to put the past behind him. And of course he picked the most over the top, dangerous way to do it.

“ A Reyes never does anything by halves,” he said 

Gabe’s eyes focused on him. “We’re also drama queens.” He tilted his head back to rest on the wall. There were dark circles under his eyes that Jesse couldn’t tell if they were from lack of sleep or from a black eye. “How did you find me,  _ vaquero? _ ”

“Well—” Jesse took a careful step inside the Conn-pod. “I thought, what’s the stupidest, most dramatic, highly dangerous place you could be?” 

Gabe cracked a smile. Jesse frowned as he made his way over to the man that had been his mentor and friend when he’d needed him. For so many years, Gabe had helped guide Jesse out of a shitty situation. Now, it was time to return the favor. The past wasn’t coming back, and neither were the people lost in it. It was time for Gabe to let them go and hold on to the people he still had. Jesse held out his hand.

“You’re coming home.” It wasn’t a question. Willingly, or kicking and screaming, Gabe was coming with him. 

Gabe reached out and took the offered help. His hands were cold and clammy. God, had he been in the rain for all these days? Gabe got to his feet and put his arms around Jesse, hugging him tight. Gabe was freezing. If he caught hypothermia and died, Jesse was going to kill him. He put his arm around Gabe and hugged him back. Comforting wasn’t his thing, but goddamnit, he’d try. 

Gabe turned his head enough to mumble into Jesse’s shoulder. “Had to say goodbye.” 

He’d never said goodbye to his sister and  _ Lechuza _ ?

“I’m ready to go home now.” 

Jesse hugged him harder for a beat, hoping Gabe felt supported, then let go of him. Gabe released his hold too, looking unsteady on his feet. Jesse kept his hands on Gabe’s shoulders. 

“Come on, let’s get you where you need to be.” 

  
  
  


Jesse tucked another of the plane’s blankets around Gabe as he slept. It was the first time Jesse had seen him sleep since Gabe had come to Gibraltar. Maybe it was the first time he _ had _ slept. While sleep was good for him, he was still underweight and possibly sick. Not the condition Jack wanted him in. 

Jack would just have to find some way to nurse him back to health. If he could get around the legendary Reyes stubbornness. But if anyone could, it was Jack. Jesse left Gabe to rest and headed up to the co-pilot seat beside Lena. 

She looked over at him then glanced back at Gabe. “Do you think he’s sick?”

God, he hoped not. Any sickness that could take down a PES Pilot was something to be feared. “Nah,” he reassured her. “Judging by the lack of food in his bag, he’s just hungry. He’ll be right as rain again after a good meal.” He flashed her a grin. “And a nice, long sleepless night with Jack taking care of him.” 

Lena scoffed and turned away to the view screen. “You’re insufferably unromantic.” 

“I leave the romance to you. I’m a practical man.” 

“We’ll see how practical you are when you find someone that drives you crazy.” 

“Got plenty of those kinds of people already. A whole class full of them.”

Lena griminced. “You ready to make selections?” 

Not really. He was confident in his assessment of their skills, but knowing what skills would work best with which branch of Overwatch? Knowing who’s authority they would excel under? There was a lot more to this job than just telling them to run laps or get their sim scores up. 

“Not really, but between the two of us, we’ll do fine.” 

“Whatever you say, big brother.” 

  
  


~

  
  


Home was in sight. Jesse grit his teeth together. “Don’t need to see this.” He got up and went to the back. 

He sat next to Gabe. A moment later, he stirred, eyes cracking open. Jesse waited to see if he’d sleep through it, but  Gabe sat up. Jesse took an energy bar he’d got from the plane’s emergency rations and pressed it into his hand. 

“Eat.” 

Slowly, Gabe reached out, peeled the wrapper, and took a bite. Jesse let out a breath. At least he wasn’t resisting. After Gabe got a few bites in him Jesse assessed him. Rested, but still tired. There was still a bit of a haunted look in his eyes. Goddamnit, if after all of this time and hurt Gabe still wasn’t ready to stay— 

“No more running?” he asked. 

Gabe met Jesse’s gaze. The haunted look smoothed out into calm. He shook his head. “They’re all at peace now.” 

That was good, but they weren’t who he was worried about. “And you?” 

“Me too.” 

Jesse studied him, looking into his eyes, watching his face for any tells. Gabe had always been difficult to read, and damn near impossible once he came back from the dead. But there was seemingly nothing hidden in his expression. Jesse let himself smile, relief chipping away at his reservations. “Good.” 

“We’re on final approach,” Lena called over her shoulder. “No rain, mild winds. Should be a nice easy park.” 

Jesse tensed, reaching out to grab the arm rest, but his hand landed on Gabe’s. A tremor went through the plane and Jesse squeezed the hand. Gabe squeezed back. 

“Not a fan of flying anymore,” Jesse admitted. “Landings are the worst.” 

“Me too.” 

If even the Great Gabriel Reyes could be scared of flying, Jesse didn’t feel so weak.

“Uh oh,” Lena said from the cockpit. 

“Don’t you dare say that on final approach,” Jesse snapped.

“I’m bringing her down easy, don’t worry. But uh, we’ve got a welcoming committee.” 

“Aw hell.” 

“We’re busted,” Lena agreed. 

“Don’t worry,” Gabe said, perfectly calm. “He’s not mad.” 

Maybe not with Gabe, but Jack sure as hell was going to be pissed with Jesse and Lena. 

Thankfully for Jesse’s nerves, the landing was as clean as Lena promised. He and Gabe both flinched when the final jolt came of the landing gear touching down. The engines whined down and Lena popped into the cabin. 

“Welp, it’s been a pleasure knowing you,” Lena said, saluting them. 

“We’ll make it through. Maybe without a job and a few missing limbs, but we’ll make it.” 

Gabe put his hand on Lena’s shoulder and smiled.  “Thank you.”

The automatic ramp extended and the cabin door clicked. Gabe moved to it, and when the door opened, he was rushing down it. 

Jesse and Lena hurried in unison to the doorway. Gabe was in Jack’s arms, holding each other tight. 

Lena sniffled and put a hand over her mouth. Jesse pulled her into a side hug and smiled. 

“They look so happy,” she hiccuped. 

“Yeah they do,” Jesse said as Gabe and Jack exchanged smiles and a laugh. 

For the first time in a very,  _ very _ long time, both of them looked grateful to be alive.

  
  


~

  
  


“Number Ten would make a good team leader for one of the Strike Teams.” 

Jesse crossed his boots on the table as he tipped his chair back. “Hmm, tough call,” he said, scratching his beard. “He’d do pretty good leading a team, but he’s got some good piloting scores.”

Lena made a “meh” sound that only teen girls seemed to be able to make sound dismissive and completely unimpressed. 

“What’s wrong with his scores?” 

“Nothing wrong with Lúcio’s scores. They’re slightly above average, that’s the problem. MEKA needs amazing pilots for mechs. It’s not going to work with just okay pilots.” 

“Okay, message received. To Ana he goes.” He made the formal recommendation and added it to the file. “Which brings us to Number Eleven.” 

“Hana’s competitive as all hell, not sure she'd do well on a team.” Lena said. “But, she’s only sixteen, she’s got time to learn. But no one even comes close to her sim score. She’d be unstoppable in a mech.”

“But not a Jager?” Jesse asked. 

Lena shook her head. “You know even better than me none of the group are a good fit for each other, or a Jaeger. Hana would be a star in MEKA.”

“Best keep an eye on her, cottontail. Bet she turns out to be as good as mech pilot as you are.”

“Jesse Joseph Jedaiah McCree, that's just rude. I’m the best pilot ever.”

“Not my full name and you know it.” Jesse smirked, rocking his chair. “She goes to Reinhardt then. If anyone could get her to be a team player, it's him.”

“ _ Sooo _ ….” Lena drawled. “I think we both know the answer, but who gets Farheea?” 

“It doesn’t matter what we decided, Ana is going to murder us and Jack in our sleep.” 

Lena grimaced. “Or we don’t put her through and then  _ she _ kills us all.”

“She’s gotta go somewhere, and we gotta treat her like a regular recruit. And she’s a damn good one.” 

“She’s really good at everything,” Lena said. “Like, really good. She’d make a good Strike Team leader or a good MEKA pilot.

“If we put her with her mother she  _ will _ kill us.” Jesse said. “There’s really only one option.

“Ana would be accused of favoritism if her daughter was on one of her teams,” Lena said. “We agree on the inevitability.” 

Jesse made the formal recommendation— wondering if he was signing his own death certificate—and added it to the file. “God save us.” 

“Now we get to the really interesting ones,” Lena said. She kicked away from the desk, chair rolling over and spinning her around twice before she knocked into him. 

“What would Emily think of that?” 

“She would think I’m funny and adorable.” Lena lifted the tablet in front of her face. 

Hanzo’s scowling visage covered her. 

“Officer Mccree,” Lena said in a  _ terrible _ imitation of Hanzo’s voice. “We have been dancing around each other for weeks now. Kiss me you fool!” 

Jesse put a boot on her chair and kicked. Her chair rolled away, spinning once. “Get your head in the game, girl.”

She whipped around to face him, or rather, Hanzo’s pixelated face turned to look at him. “Don’t push me away! Embrace your feelings. Unless it is my brother you long for.”

“Not working with ya if you’re going to be like that.” 

Lena fake gasped. “You mean you want us both? Officer Mccree! Could you even handle so much Shimada at once?”

Jesse rolled his eyes. “Genji’s lookin’ at your butt, not mine.” 

The tablet with Hanzo’s face moved aside as Lena peeked out. “First of all, he’s looking at both our butts, and second, he’s looking at your butt  _ way _ more than mine. I think he’s smitten with you.”

“Coming from you who always hangs out with him talking about Jaegers.” He leered at her. “Maybe he wants both of  _ us _ .” 

Lena put the tablet down. “First of all, gross. Second of all, he’s all yours. No thank you.” 

“Third of all, where are we putting Hanzo?”

Lena rolled herself back over. “I mean, he’s good everywhere. Everything he does, he’s good at.” 

Oh, Jesse knew that all too well. It was frustrating as hell watching Hanzo take every training exercise in stride like it was nothing no matter how many times Jesse had tried to trip him up with curveballs. “I think Ana’s the only one that could handle him.” 

“Not Jaegers?” Lena asked. “He’s good enough. Maybe he and _ you _ are Drift compatible and you two could have a Jaeger together. But then you’d be making out all the time instead of fighting.” 

Jesse shook his head and ignored most of her sentence. “He’ll never open up to someone. No way he’d ever made it to Drift compatibility trails.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty cold.” 

“And conceited,” Jesse added. 

“Snooty,” Lena offered. 

Jesse grinned. He liked this game. “Full of himself.” 

“Spoiled.” 

“Smug, clueless, a pain in the ass.” 

Lena pointed at him. “I don’t even like man-ass but he has a nice one.”

“Nobody’s denying he’s handsome,” Jesse said. “But let’s get back to insulting him.” It was much more comfortable ground insulting Hanzo instead of thinking of how handsome he was.

“I was going to insult his clothes, but then I remembered those pinstripe pants he wore the other day and he’s got really nice legs.” 

Hanzo did look good in those pinstripes and— “I liked it better when we were bashing him.” 

“And how does he get his hair that shiny?” Lena demanded, slamming a fist into her palm. “It’s not fair! It’s like silk and it does that little  _ fwoosh _ thing with that lock that hangs in his eyes.”

“Let’s—”

“And his skin!” Lena went on, in full tirade now. “It’s soft and so moisturized and also kind of tan? How can he be tan? He doesn’t even go outside! Have you seen his arms? Like, I don’t see him lifting weights, but bloody hell how does he do it?” 

Jesse’s imagination wandered to Hanzo wearing his skintight, pinstripe pants with no shirt, with his muscular arms crossed over his chest. The blue, dragon tattoo rippling with— Jesse shook himself out of the fantasy. Nope, nope, nope. 

“We’re done here. He goes to Ana.” Jesse put their official recommendation in the file. “Discussion over. Moving on.” 

Lena groaned. “Fine. What are we doing with Genji?” 

“He’s like his brother.” 

“Hot?” Lena asked, wiggling her eyebrows at him.

“Good at everything,” Jesse fired back, giving her the “knock it off,” look. 

She put the tablet on the desk and rolled her chair back over. She put her head on his shoulder. “Sorry. You just give so much, I want to see you happy.” 

Jesse’s anger melted away. He tussled her hair. “Thanks, cottontail. I know you care, but leave Shimadas out of it, okay?” 

“Even if they are  _ really _ hot and you  _ totally _ want to do them?” 

Jesse pushed her away again. “You were  _ this _ close to getting back into my good graces.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll behave.” She rolled back over to him. “I think Genji would be good in MEKA. His sim score is second only to Hana’s. But, he’s also a lot better at working in teams. He could be a Jaeger pilot.” 

“Yeah.” Jesse drummed his fingers on the desk. “Problem being we don’t have any Jaegers for him. And won’t for a while. I’d rather have him use his skills than bench him until Jack gets funding.” 

“What about the Eleven?” Lena asked. 

Jesse stopped drumming. What about the Eleven indeed? Gabe and Jack had piloted her. Technically, they  _ were _ her pilots. But Gabe hadn’t emerged from Jack’s quarters as he recovered from his soul search.  Probably being spoon fed back to health by his loving co-pilot.  Jack had made no move to put himself back into training. And Jesse had been at Jack’s side so many years ago when Jack swore he would never set foot in a Conn-pod again. The Eleven  _ should _ be available for permanent pilots. 

But Gabe and Jack were the two best pilots on the planet. It would be stupid to pull them from her.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I just don’t know.” 

“We can always recruit him later,” she said. “Let’s say Reinhardt for now, and if we get a Jaeger, we can pull him.” 

Jesse checked. “I doubt Reinhardt would like that.” 

“He will if I use my puppy dog eyes.” She pouted, pushing out her lower lip and making her eyes all big and wet-looking.

Jesse snorted. “That don’t work on me.” 

“Yes it does.” 

Maybe once in a while. “No way.” 

She let the puppy eyes drop. “You’re no fun.”

“Nope, not when there’s work to be done.” He made their official recommendations for the younger Shimada brother and put it in the file. 

“That’s the last one,” Lena said. 

“Yep.” The file felt heavy in Jesse’s hand. “You ready to submit them?” 

She was quiet a long moment. “We did our best. We thought everything out. We have good reasons for each.” She let out a long breath. “No use putting it off, right?” 

“Read my mind.” Jesse closed the file. “I’ll go bring it to Jack.” 

“If you think you’re going alone, you're wrong. We’re in this together.” Lena beamed at him. 

She trusted him. He wasn’t so sure that was a good idea, but he was going to do his best not to let her down. 

“All right. Let’s make our first recommendations.” 

  
  


~ 

  
  


The next day dawned perfectly calm and clear. Lena straightened Jesse’s sharpshooter medals, and he returned the favor making sure her collar was smoothed down. 

“Nervous?” he asked when she couldn’t keep still. 

“Me? No way. Why would you ask if I was nervous? I’m not nervous. You’re nervous. I’m perfectly calm. You’re the nervous one.” 

He smiled. “Nope. Me neither.”

“Of course we wouldn’t be. The hard part is over, we just have to stand around for a little ceremony. It’s not like we’re worried that the senior officers will reject all our recommendations and we’ll fail our test and disappoint everyone we look up to or anything.”

Jesse squeezed her shoulder and grinned. “You ramble when you’re nervous.” 

“Do not.” 

“My mistake.” He took off his hat and set it aside. “Well, let’s get this over with.” 

Together, they left the ready room and gathered the waiting recruits. All of them fell in. Jesse walked down the line, inspecting their formal uniforms. He strengthened ties, had one tighten their belt, but in all, they were spit-polished and perfect. 

“All right everyone, look alive.” 

Lena fell into place beside him, and together, they led their first class out of the Dome into the sunshine. 

Reinhardt and Ana waited for them all before the statue of John Morrison. There were no chairs, no families and friends there to cheer. Maybe next time. Lena brought the class to a halt before the two commanders. 

“Fall in!” Lena commanded. 

Hanzo gracefully muscled his way to stand beside Jesse.

“I will not forget this,” Hanzo said under his breath. 

Jesse kept his gaze forward on Reinhardt’s elbow. “If ya like, I can let them know I revoke my recommendation and you can rot in that fancy room of yours.” 

“You will rue crossing me.” 

“I’m tryin’ to save you from yourself,” Jesse hissed back before he could stop himself. 

Hanzo didn’t say anything more, leaving Jesse fuming and chewing on the inside of his cheek to keep from giving the bastard a piece of his mind. 

“Attention!” Reinhardt called. 

Everyone snapped to attention. 

“You stand here today,” Reinhardt began, “having completed the first test of your mettle and resolve. Another test awaits. Should you pass it, you will have the honor of joining the hallowed halls of Overwatch.” 

Ana took over. “During your training, you were watched, tested, and have come out stronger than how you came in. Careful considerations have been made for this next step in your journey. Lieutenant Wilhelm or I will be your new commander. When we call your name, you will join us and the specialized training begins.” 

Reinhardt and Ana divided the class. Jesse’s chest swelled with pride as every recruit went to the commander he and Lena recommended. When Reinhardt called Farheena’s name, Jesse tensed. Fareeha walked up, not even looking at her mother as she joined Reinhardt. Ana’s eye followed her daughter the entire way, but she didn’t say anything. There was a lot of tension between them and Jesse didn’t want to get any more in between them than he already had. 

Genji went happily to Reinhardt. Hanzo… seemed to accept this was how things were going to play out. But Jesse got the feeling that wasn’t going to last long. He had to figure out something to keep that video out of Jack’s hands, and Hanzo off a suicide mission. 

He didn’t get paid enough for this. 

“Congratulations, recruits,” Ana addressed the whole of the class once more. 

“Tomorrow,” Reinhardt added with a grin, “we shall see what you are truly made of. Dismissed!” 

Eleven and Ten— Hana and Lúcio Jesse reminded himself, he really needed to get better at that— high fived and tossed their dress caps in the air. Emily— that name he did remember because it drove Lena crazy— chatted with a pair of other recruits. She smiled, cheeks dimpling and freckles standing out. A lock of her bright red hair got loose from its tight bun and hung in front of her eyes. Lena was probably having heart palpitations right now. Jesse elbowed her in the ribs.

“Go tell her congrats.” 

Lena shook her head. “Later. I don’t want to get in the middle of her celebrating with her friends.” 

“Better be fast, cottontail,” Jesse said. “She’s a cute one. Someone’s bound to ask her first if you don’t.” 

Lena blushed. 

He decided to push her a little. “You know, Améile might not feel the same way about you. And even if she did, she might not be ready to give her heart to someone for a long time. I’m not one for hanging my hat on a ‘maybe one day.’” 

She scoffed. “And yet you’ve stuck around all this time to maybe get a Jaeger.” 

“I know it ain’t happening,” Jesse said. “I’ve made peace with it. Rather train recruits right and be happy doing it, than unhappy waiting for a miracle.” 

Lena was quiet as the recruits drifted back toward the Dome, bits and pieces of plans for a celebration floating back to Jesse’s ears. Lena pulled herself up and threw back her shoulders. 

“I’m gonna ask her. Now that she’s not under my command or anything.” 

“Go get ‘er,” Jesse chuckled as he loosened his tie. “I’m getting the hell out of this monkey suit.”

Together, they stepped away.

“And where do you two think you're going?” Ana called before they made it a second step.

Jesse turned, looking at Ana, then Reinhardt, then Lena. She looked just as confused as him. 

Reinhardt laughed his booming roar. “I think not, little ones! You're not done here.”

“I can’t speak for Lena,” Jesse started, not sure where this was going, but weary of some kind of… something. “But I’m getting the hell out of this long sleeve shirt in this heat.” 

Reinhardt laughed some more.

Lena and Jesse looked at each other again. Lena’s expression said:  _ I don’t know what’s going on, do you? _

He shook his head. He wished he did.

Ana smiled. “Did you think the new recruits were the only ones being tested?” 

“No ma’am. Jack said himself this was a test for Lena and I. Figured we passed and we’ll be the new recruit trainers.” 

“No need to make a fuss over it,” Lena added. 

Ana and Reinhardt turned and looked over their shoulders. Jack stepped out from behind the statue, blue coat dancing in the wind as he walked up and stopped between his senior officers. 

“You’re right, Jesse.” 

“Knew they were gonna make a fuss over it,” Lena muttered under her breath.

“It was a test to see if you two could work as a team, overcome an out of the box challenge for you, and find the strengths and weaknesses in each other and yourselves.” 

“ _ Aaand _ , we passed?” Lena asked

Jack smiled at her and nodded once. “As expected.” 

“We’re all very proud of you,” Reinhardt said. “Both of you showed great leadership, but also great humility.” 

“You both have grown a lot since you first came here,” Ana picked up. “These last few weeks have been some of the hardest Overwatch has faced in ten years, and you two didn’t break.”

This felt like it was leading up to something, and Jesse couldn’t tell if it was good or them trying to soften a blow. 

“You weathered the dire situations thrown at you with calm, with focus, and with confidence,” Jack said. 

“You impressed us all,” Ana put in.

“And you have all of our recommendations,” Reinhardt told them.

“Recommendations?” Jesse asked. “For what?” 

Jack lifted his chin just a little higher, a smile on his face and pride in his eyes. “Congratulations, agents. I’m proud to introduce you to your new commanding officer.” 

“New commanding officer?” Lena squeaked. “But, Dad, _ you’re _ our commanding officer!”

Jack stepped aside and held out his hand to the empty space beside him. And then someone stepped to his side.

“Oh my God!” Lena gasped. 

Gabe took up his place at Jack's side. He was dressed in black and gray fatigues and a black shirt with the Overwatch symbol— the  _ Overwatch _ symbol— on both shoulders. His face was set in his resting I'll-fucking-murder-you face, beanie pulled low on his forehead. But he was here, and he was standing with the officers and— 

“So. You two are the officers I’m training?”

“Train? What are you talking about?” 

Gabe glared at him. “That's, Sir to you, ranger.”

Sir? When the hell had Sir happened. Wait... when the hell had  _ ranger _ happened? 

Lena raised her hand.

Gabe nodded at her. “Yes?”

“This is really important, so I just want to be clear,” she said, and Jesse could feel her holding herself back from exploding. “Are we rangers now? As in real Rangers? As in real  _ Jaeger Rangers _ ? With a real Jaeger and everything?”

Gabe crossed his arms. “Not if you don't meet my standards.”

Jack put a hand on Gabe’s shoulder. “Lena. Jesse. I'd like you to meet the new Jaeger Team leader, and my Co-Strike-Commander. If you want to pilot, you have to impress both him and me. Is that clear, rangers?”

Lena went still, yet somehow still seemed to vibrate with elated energy. Jesse was still processing. 

“Your Strike-Commander asked you two a question,” Gabe said. 

“Sir, yes, Sir!” Jesse and Lena said in unison.

He was finally a ranger? “So....” he began, feeling a smile creep into his lips. “Do we have our own Jaeger or are we taking charge of the Eleven—”

“Helix Blossom is ours,” Gabe said, leaning slightly closer to Jack. “You'll get a Jaeger when we say you two are ready for one.” 

“Um, are the formalities over?” Lena asked, voice cracking. 

Gabe and Jack exchanged a look, then smiles curled their lips. They turned back to Lena and nodded in unison. 

She screamed, jumped up and down, pumped her fists in the air. “I’m a Jaeger pilot!”   


Jesse could only stand, stunned. 

“Not a pilot yet,” Gabe said.

Lena didn’t seem to hear him. She rushed over and leaped into Gabe. He caught her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you I won’t let you down I’ll be the best trainee ever!”

Gabe awkwardly patted her back and didn’t push her away. “You two are to report to the kwoon at oh-six-hundred tomorrow. Real Jaeger training begins then. Now, go enjoy your last night of freedom.” 

Lena kissed him on the cheek, then let him go. “I’m so happy you’re here.” 

A smile broke through Gabe’s surly expression. The corners of his eyes crinkled and he looked like himself again. 

“It’s good to be home. Now go enjoy your night because I’m not taking it easy on you.” 

Lena hugged Jack, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “I’ll make you proud.”

“You already have.” 

Lena let go and bounded back to Jesse. “We’re Jaeger pilots!”

“In training,” Jesse said. “And speaking of. Technically, I’ve been through all my pilot training, I’m ready to step into the pod right now.”

Gabe's dark gaze came to rest on Jesse. “You’re right. You’ve already got a jump on training. You can start getting back in Jaeger shape. Fifteen laps around the track. Right now.”

Jesse opened his mouth to argue, but Gabe cut him off.

“Jack tells me you haven’t been in serious conditioning training for years. You want to be a pilot, you have to be fight ready.” Jack handed him a tablet and Gabe tapped the screen. “I’m timing you, Ranger McCree. Better move.”

Indignation, confusion, eliation, nostalgia, so many feelings tumbled around Jesse’s skull he didn’t know what to feel first. His feet were rooted to the ground. Ana. Reinhardt. Lena. Jack. Gabe. Every one important to him, everyone he loved stood before him. 

Happiness swelled in his heart. Now that he had it, he was going to fight for these people, this family, with everything he had. His family was finally complete and happy. It was more than he had ever dreamed was possible.

“Okay.” He reached up, covering his mouth for a second before the emotions could spill out of him in a very un-officer like manner. He covered his moment by turning it into stroking his beard. “Okay.” 

Lena hugged him. “Whatever the future brings, we’re all here for each other. And I’ll save your butt when you need it.

He laughed. “Right back at you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, Jesse closes the curtain on the real, final chapter of I'll Always Find You In The Drift. 
> 
> I hope everyone enjoyed the end, leaving the door WAAAAAAAAY open to more stories in the future. :) 
> 
> At least for the foreseeable future, the neural handshake has been cut off, and we are all in our own heads once more. 
> 
> But we'll always have the memories in the Drift. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Oh boy. Jesse seems to gotten himself into a bit of a jam... in more ways than one!


End file.
